1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to article holders. More specifically, the invention is an audibly activated illuminated receptacle for holding and locating various objects, particularly in the dark.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous illuminated devices have been devised for improving visibility of instruments or retained objects at night. Evidence of these particular devices can be seen in U.S. patents issued to Maier (U.S. Pat. No. 1,442,896), Comfort (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,584,633 and 4,722,038), Sheryll (U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,084), and Sansone et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,517). These devices include improvements which provide night light for watch holders, eyeglasses holders and illumination coasters and decorative illuminated animations for bedroom lamps. Early attempts were made to include combination bedroom lamp and clock features as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,028 issued to Sundin et al.; however, such devices required the use complex features such as a built in time-controlled mechanism that trips an on-off switch in the electric circuit to the lamp for projecting images upon a bedroom ceiling at night. As further described below, it will be seen that most of these conventional device required the use of an alternating current source as a predominant set back. The present invention, an illuminated holder, contrary to conventional illuminated devices described hereinbelow, is a voice activated unit which provides a dual-lamp column arrangement for providing greater luminosity with minimum voltage output utilizing a direct current power source.
Voice activation features have been found among conventional devices, particularly in the utilization of medical devices or voice activated microscopes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,253 issued to Liang et al. discloses a voice activated microscope which permits the precise location of the microscope and precise focusing by uttered voice commands. Other devices include a sound responsive light belt and a hand-clap activated cat repelling device described in U.S. patents issued to Terry (U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,464) and McDonough (U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,007), respectively. While these devices illustrate the use of voice commands or sound for activating certain features of the respective devices, neither teaches or fairly suggests the illuminated holder of the present invention.
U.S. patent issued to Bayer (U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,653) and Taylor et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,677,675 and 5,926,090) disclose complex detector circuits which include processors for executing adaptive actuation signal recognition patterns from noise. These circuit units have applications which involve direct attachment to a lost article. A similar device is described in the European Patent granted to Pxc3x6sch (EU 0 138 206 A2).
Other patents to Engleman (Des. 244,241), Au (Des. 408,145), Yu (Des. 425,863) Maitenaz (FR 2 639,526) and Basler et al. (DE 43 05 603 A1) are merely directed to general ornamental or conventional features of general relevance.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention having a dual-lamp column arrangement for providing greater illumination with minimum voltage output. Thus a illuminated holder solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The invention is a sound-activated illuminated holder which facilitates finding objects such as glasses, combs, napkins, etc. in the dark. The audibly activated holder has a base, a body portion and first and second illumination ends for illuminating the holder and any retained objects. The body portion of the holder includes a cavity having a predetermined volume for holding a variety of objects. At least one sound sensor is mounted within the base of the device for sensing audible sounds within a predetermined sensing range or distance. A dual illumination source arrangement is provided which provides light at night on a first and second side of the body portion of the holder. A set of 1.5 Volt lamps provides light within a column of corresponding removable lamp covers via a DC power source which generates power rated at a voltage provided by two AA batteries. The device is a low voltage device which drives a sensor circuit with a selective switch arrangement for inactive use. The power source provides power sequentially to the sensor and first and second illumination sources as a closed loop circuit when active.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an illuminated holder for effectively finding a variety of objects at night.
It is another object of the invention to provide an illuminated holder having a dual-lamp system which provides maximum luminosity at low voltage through a voice activated circuit.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an illuminated holder which is light weight and simple to use.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.